Hydrostructural Geology: The Geology within Hydrogeology (405 mins.)

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Reading
701 Penn Street
Reading, PA

Instructor

Thomas D. Gillespie P.G., Sr. Professional Geologist
Gilmore & Associates, Inc.

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Professional Development Conversion Formulas
DE, SC 60 mins. = 1 CEU
PA 50 mins. = 1 PDH 

Level:  Advanced

Overview: Unlike the mental imagery geologists construct of groundwater flow through a porous medium,  investigators in fractured rock aquifers must first visualize the three-dimensional network of water-conducting planes before considering how the spacing, orientation and interconnection of those planes control and constrain gravity-driven flow. Complicating that visualization even further, it is usually the case that none of the sets of intersecting, non-randomly-oriented planes are aligned parallel to the prevailing hydraulic gradient.

Combining a refresher on the concepts and methods of structural geology with in-depth quantitative analysis of groundwater flow within and between discrete, connected flow pathways, this full day, hands-on course provides the tools of both visualization and quantification of gravity-driven flow in three-dimensional space. Including a complete review of the methods of planar structural analysis, the course explores: structurally-controlled deflection of contaminant plumes; the effects of the scale of observation on aquifer heterogeneity and anisotropy; migration of separate phase liquids and gases;  and groundwater flow within structural domains of differing, yet overlapping, scales of observation from individual fractures to project wells, project sites, through project areas.